Email List growth strategies - restaurants

Are you in the hospitality industry and are looking for opportunities to build your audience, increase reservations, and meal-kit purchases? Here are some short and sweet options for growing your email list audience below. I’ve broken them out into three groups.

New restaurant go-ers

Looking to capture the attention of those that have never visited your restaurant before? Try the below:

1. Popup on your website

   1. A great opportunity to mention staying up to date with menu changes

   2. Want to offer them an exclusive “in”?

   3. Is your patio open!?

2. Social media

   1. Use a tool like Linktree to manage multiple links within your Instagram Bio. Include one that links out to a newsletter signup option.

During the meal

1. Include a QR code on your table that links directly to sign up to your email list.

   1. To incentivize, offer them a free dessert, or a free coffee on the house if they can prove they signed up

Friends and fam

Create a friends and family-specific email program. Send them updates first, before the remainder of your email list. Foster a community of advocates on your behalf!

This program should be inclusive of those that have visited your restaurant 2-3 times. If you want to self-opt people into this program, and you have a reservation CRM system that tracks this information, you can automatically segment to those diners that have already completed these key actions.

This strategy can be cross-collaborated to social as well, by encouraging these advocates to post, tag, and share their experience at your restaurant with their own audience on channels like Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook.